


Variables Don't and Constants Aren't

by Agent3Novi



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life But The AI Is Aware, Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Conductor!Tommy, Gen, God I love that tag, I Don't Even Know, Infinity Train AU, Introspection, Kinda, Memories, Mind Manipulation, Not Beta Read We Die Like Coomer Clones, Stream of Consciousness, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, it's just tommy staring out at the wasteland and musing on his old pals there's not too much to it, it's short and at the end but i still thought I should tag for it, robot!Tommy, tell me if there's better tags for anything, that's just how I write lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27812635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent3Novi/pseuds/Agent3Novi
Summary: "Another constant, the endless dirt spanning to the horizon, forever painted in sunset hues. The Storm still swirls in the sky, the gateway between the dimension that houses the Infinity Train and Earth. Sometimes, Tommy finds himself wondering what it would be like to call down an Exit for himself. To see the planet he’s heard a thousand bits and pieces of. Maybe he could visit a movie theater, go to a dog-park with Sunkist, play some video games with Ben and that “Gordon” friend he always mentioned…That thought sends a twinge through Tommy’s nonexistent heart, and the Engineer's warning echoes through his head. “Never, get attached... to a passenger. They come and go… grow and die, so fast. Their leave will leave you, hurt, and I do not wish, for that pain... to find, you.”"---(Or wherein a denizen of the Infinity Train muses on the bittersweet past, the seemingly unchanging present, and the futures he cannot have)
Relationships: None show up enough to be tagged
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Variables Don't and Constants Aren't

**Author's Note:**

> *cries real hard* Guys I closed the tab and lost all my progress on posting this fic so we're going speedy this time
> 
> uh yeah so Infinity Train AU for HLVRAI that I've been developing for a while now. What you need to know for this fic is that Tommy kinda takes OneOne's place as Conductor but he's also a lot more humanoid but also like the Steward, and that his job is mostly Passenger assistance, car maintenance, etc. bc there's another character in the Engine taking care of the other Conductor jobs. Not too important but if you want to ask about it leave a comment
> 
> Thanks to Tommy (i3utterflyEffect) and the AAAAAAAmong Us discord for helping me with the au * _smooch noise_ * ♡(ŐωŐ人)
> 
> Hey @ the three people who know me irl and sometimes read my fics, I'm so tired I don't even care if you read this fic at this point, just don't comment or bring up HLVRAI to me bc my anxiety _will_ emotionally knife me if you do
> 
> @ everyone else, please enjoy the fic :,)

_ Vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm _ -

_ Klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk- _

_ Clank clank clank clank- _

The drone of the Train is a comforting noise, the denizen known as Tommy muses as he crosses the bridge between cars. It and the gentle constant motion are always there, have been since the day he was activated and will be long after his circuits rust away into nothing. Not that that’s going to happen any time soon, oh no! He takes good care of himself while he takes care of the Train. After all, what would it do without its dutiful Conductor and Mechanic, were he to break down? 

_ Klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk- _

The robot pauses halfway to the next door. He turns to gaze out at the Wasteland, a clawed hand finding its way to the railing unconsciously. Another constant, the endless dirt spanning to the horizon, forever painted in sunset hues. The Storm still swirls in the sky, the gateway between the dimension that houses the Infinity Train and Earth. Sometimes, Tommy finds himself wondering what it would be like to call down an Exit for himself. To see the planet he’s heard a thousand bits and pieces of. Maybe he could visit a movie theater, go to a dog-park with Sunkist, play some video games with Ben and that “ _ Gordon _ ” friend he always mentioned…

That thought sends a twinge through Tommy’s nonexistent heart, and the Engineer's warning echoes through his head.  _ “Never, get attached... to a passenger. They come and go… grow and die, so fast. Their leave will leave you, hurt, and I do not wish, for that pain... to find, you.” _

_ Vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm _ -

He’ll never regret that decision from eight years ago, when he found the crying child in car 707562 and paused his maintenance duties to comfort them. Nor when they asked him to stay with them, and he broke pretty much all the conventions for his role to do so. The Conductor should be fair, not be biased towards any one passenger, must not be rooted in any one location lest a problem that needed his attention arise somewhere else. 

_ And yet.  _

Tommy shook his head and stepped back from the railing. He shouldn’t think like that. He was happy on the Train, and happy for Ben, even if he missed the days when they traveled together, exploring the train, trading stories, just being carefree friends. If Ben thought he would grow better traveling alone, that was his choice to do so, and Tommy would respect that choice.

And even when Ben got his Exit, it’s not like Tommy could follow him.

_ Klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk- _

The Conductor continued walking to the next car. The alert in his log said car 98552 had a denizen that had become corrupted, personality becoming warped and physics becoming glitched. Not too bad, he’d fixed many similar problems before in the past few years. Maybe once he was done he would have time to visit Sunkist’s car, see how she and the rest of Retrevon’s denizens were doing. If he was fast enough, he may even have time to visit the Engineer, it  _ had _ been a while since they had last-

**_[ERRONEOUS THOUGHT DETECTED, UNIT 1101-GM CANNOT BE REACHED AT THIS TIME]_ **

**_[ERRONEOUS THOUGHT DELETED, RESETTING UNIT 1102-TC...]_ **

_ Vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm _ -

_ Klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk- _

Ah…? What had Tommy been thinking about?

Oh right, how comforting the constants of the Train were. The wheels on the tracks, the hum of the machinery, the warmly-colored Wasteland, the neverending flow of new problems for him to fix. Always there to pull him back on track ( _ hah _ ) when he got distracted.

Speaking of problems, he needed to get back to that. Car 98552 wouldn’t fix itself after all. 

_ Clank clank clank clank- _

_ Klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk ka klunk ka tunk- _

_ Vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm _ -

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my tumblr, come and talk to me about the au: https://sweetheartdj13.tumblr.com/
> 
> If you have any advice on how to write the HLVRAI cast p l e a s e give it to me I cannot write them to save my life 🥺🥺🥺


End file.
